শিকড় | Shikawr: Travel to Your Roots with the Bengali Songs Album of the Decade

Washington, DC, Oct 22, 2014 (Washington Bangla Radio): It will pull you back in time and remind you of the long road you took across the world. Engulfing you in nostalgia, it will renew your appreciation for the things you have at the same time. You will wonder about the roads you did not take at the intersections of your life. You will be forced to confront yourself, and perhaps to find again your justification for leaving behind the things that mattered to you long ago. If you are like me, you will eventually conclude that its worth every bit of the price you have paid. And it will leave you a bit melancholy, but much more basking in a warm glow of peaceful happiness.

When Bengal is struggling to find its lost place on the global map, trapped in the timeless depths of Tagore and courageous attempts at satire by Chandrabindoo, Shikawr comes in as welcome blast of fresh air, with a promise of rejuvenating Bengali song-writing, composition, arrangement and performance. With occasional reminders of global issues (take your picks from gender inequality through economic disparity), Shikawr achieves that rarest level of sophistication only attainable by simplicity. It would have been very easy for the songs to end up being pedantic or jingoistic. That they are not so is what sets this album very apart from the current crop of guitar-strumming Dylan wannabes.

It is impossible to put an order in the list of artists that have come up with the outstanding album Shikawr. Sahana Bajpaie, whose remarkable voice is among today's best, segues into her first major contemporary music project as the lead singer beyond her forte of Rabindra Sangeet and folk-soul-sufi songs. Sahana makes an immediate connection with expatriates. Her singing betrays passions stemming from her own journey from staying abroad in London and homecoming. Samantak Sinha (Sunny)'s sound-scape design demonstrates a great restraint. His acoustic treatment betrays a power no amount of over-driven distortion could have conveyed. Samantak also sings “Magic” with Sahana, and is a backing vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player in this album. Gorki Mukherjee's private and powerful singing complements Sahana’s rich, melodious voice in Chawl Ekdin. London-based Saptarshi Routh has conceptualized, written, composed and produced the album.

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